By John Clifford Lintao
FOR the next three years, permits for the installation and operation of cell towers in the country would no longer be required.
The bicameral conference committee, embarking on a common goal to fast-track the construction of telecommunication towers in the country and reduce bureaucratic red tape, approved an insertion in the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One or Bayanihan 2, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon to temporarily suspend certain permits for the installation and operation of cell towers in the country.
The bicameral conference committee (bicam), led by Senator Sonny Angara and House Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte, adopted Drilon’s proposal to suspend certain permits for three years, except the building permit, during the panel’s first meeting on Friday to reconcile the disagreeing provisions of the Senate and House versions of the proposed Bayanihan 2.
In case of refusal of homeowners’ associations to allow telco towers, a referendum, supervised by the barangay council, can be called in the subdivision to decide on the issue, Drilon said.
There are about 29 to 35 documentary requirements and permits before a single tower could be built in a subdivision, barangay or town, Drilon noted. These permits include consent of the neighbors, barangay resolution, certificate of non-coverage, zoning clearance, height clearance, radiation evaluation studies, building permit, a city or municipal resolution, occupancy permit, mayor’s permit, memorandum of agreement with DENR-NIPAS, among others.
Drilon said these complex requirements remain “the biggest stumbling block for more reliable and faster internet and telecommunication services in the country.”
The move is seen to pave the way for faster construction of telco towers to improve telecommunications in the country.
Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala of Globe Telecom Inc. lauded the senator’s move to simplify requirements for telco towers construction.
“Thank you for the extraordinary addition of simplifying the permits needed for telco infrastructure into the law. I cannot tell you how important this is. A very big thank you from all of us in the industry,” Zobel de Ayala said in a text message to Drilon.
Drilon added that reliable and faster telecommunication service is what the government needs to successfully implement the Department of Education’s online and blended learning strategies.
Telcos often cite the difficulty in getting clearances and permits to build cell sites and towers, which can take years to complete.
Drilon also proposed a provision which says that “no court, except the Supreme Court, shall issue any temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction against the construction of telecommunications infrastructure, including cell sites and cell towers.”